Summer House is one of my favorite reality shows—it’s mindless, fun, and filled with drama. It returned for its sixth season on Bravo on January 17th. For those who aren’t as familiar with it, the show is about a tight-knit friend group who rents a house in the Hamptons every summer and out East every weekend to escape work and city life. Summer House is relatable—a bunch of young adults are enjoying their summer with their best friends—but it’s also chaotic with its ever-changing relationships and dynamics. This season, Kyle Cooke and Amanda Batula, once a “power couple,” seem to be struggling more than ever despite their long engagement and wedding right around the corner. Their troubled relationship has been front and center in the season thus far. It’s definitely not a good start to the season. Though I have loved “KyManda” together in the past, this season has me questioning how I really feel about their relationship
Kyle and Amanda met in 2015 and began dating soon after. Their romance has been a part of Summer House since Season 1 in 2017. A dynamic duo, Kyle and Amanda at times seem to bring out the best in each other. Together they created Loverboy, a beverage company that sells sparkling hard teas and cocktails. Although at other times, they also seem to bring out the worst in each other. They have faced many ups and downs together over the past several years, including many blowout fights seen on the show, and a tough cheating scandal. Despite the turmoil throughout their relationship, the pair got engaged in 2018 and finally married last September, around the time of this season’s filming.
The past three episodes have showcased their relationship as a volatile mess. So, what exactly is so troubling about Season 6 so far? Well, Kyle’s drinking seems to be going a bit out of control. Because Kyle cheated on Amanda on a drunken night out with his friends years ago, one of her biggest fears is that Kyle will repeat this mistake when he is out partying. So far, his drinking has caused multiple issues in their relationship, leading Amanda to threaten to call off their wedding. On one of the first weekends out in the Hamptons, Amanda was unable to reach Kyle via cellphone after calling him over 20 times. In the following episodes, she takes out her frustrations on Kyle by throwing his things all over the bathroom, moving his stuff to the front steps, crying, and sharing her fears about marrying him.
Amanda’s breakdowns on the show make me feel uneasy about their decision to get married. At times, she seems more stressed and scared to get married than excited. When she tries to have a conversation with Kyle about his drinking, he often gets defensive. At this point, Amanda doesn’t seem too confident in her relationship with him. Her fiancé continues to party excessively, to the point where she is sick to her stomach worrying about him.
Of course, I want the best for this relationship, although I’m personally not sure what that looks like. I can’t imagine dealing with these types of issues so close to a big wedding. It seems like Kyle has a lot of work left to do. Still, I am interested to see how he and Amanda mend their relationship through the rest of the season.
